How Hermione Came to Hogwarts
by Mini-Em
Summary: Pretty much what the title says; Hermione's Journey to the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and how she came to befriend Harry and Ron. Please R&R Enjoy and Thank you!
1. What a Horrible Birthday

**Hi everyone! This is my third HP fic that I'm posting here. It's mainly Hermione, and it is the story of how she came to attend Hogwarts and befriended Harry and Ron. It's mixing the books and the movies a little bit, and it won't go too much in to detail at Hogwarts (like their first meeting with the three-headed dog and the duel because that is covered in the actual books/movies). I wanted to tell Hermione's story by giving you the details of her journey that is not covered in the books/movies. I do hope you enjoy it and I love comments, but please remember the Golden Rule :) Thank you and enjoy! **

~*~WHAT A HORRIBLE BIRTHDAY~*~

Hermione threw her schoolbag and uniform blazer on the floor of the hallway and ran upstairs.

"Pick that up, young lady!" her mother's brisk voice was heard from the kitchen, but when she heard her 11-year old daughter slam the door to her room and then muffled sobs coming from the top floor, she put down the cookbook and turned the stove off.

"Hermione" she called as she was walking up the stairs.

"Go away!" The girl screamed, but her voice was not all that loud due to the pillow she was crying in to.

"Hermione, darling, whatever is the matter?" Hermione's mother said when she opened the door and saw her child sprawled out across her bed, her stuffed animals flung everywhere.

A muffled "nothing" was heard from Hermione and Mrs. Granger knew better than to coerce anything from her. It never worked. When she was ready to talk about it, she would.

"Your father will be home soon" she said instead and sat down, stroking her daughter's hair "maybe he and you can practice some French?"

"Sure" Hermione's muffled voice was heard again. It was one of the few things that made her happier; studying. Languages were her favorite. She was already at a year 9 reading level in English thanks to her father, and recently, he had started to teach her French, even though technically she wasn't going to start that for another year.

Another wave of tears came welling from her eyes. It was her 11th birthday today, and her parents had decided to celebrate her over the weekend instead of today, Thursday, and therefore had pretty much ignored today as a special day of any kind. She wasn't going to have a party. She was going to her grandmother's house. Hermione believed this was because she didn't have any friends that would come to her birthday party had she decided to throw one. This was the worst birthday ever.

Half an hour later, she heard the door slamming. The radio was on downstairs and she could hear her parents talking, but couldn't make out a single sound. Before long, she heard someone come up the stairs.

"Hi darling" her father said in his soft tone "Had a bad day?"

She sat up as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah"

He gave her a hug.

"Tomorrow will be better" he said "Now, how about we do some French?"

That was one of the things that was good about her father; he always had time for these kinds of things. No matter how tired he was when he came home from work, he would always study with her.

After approximately half an hour of conjugating verbs, her mother called.

"Dinner!" and they both went downstairs. Normally, Hermione would have changed out of her uniform, but today she hadn't bothered. Her father was still in his clothes from work.

"Do you want to tell us what happened today?" her mother asked casually as they ate.

Hermione, who was still down, figured she might as well, seeing as how it wasn't going to change anything.

"Jane Appelby was after me again" she said as she picked at a baby carrot. She hated steamed vegetables.

Jane Appelby was, not the biggest, but definitely the most popular girl in Hermione's year, and she was allied with the biggest girl; Marlene Fritz. Both of them were always picking on Hermione and the subject was anything from being smart, to her hair, her teeth or the fact that she didn't have any friends. None of this was, of course, Hermione's fault but little does that matter to a ten-year-old bully.

"What did Jane do this time?" Mr. Granger asked as Mrs. Granger dropped her cutlery on the plate and sighed deeply with head in her hands.

"She threatened to have Marlene beat me up because I told the teacher she cheated off of me on our math's test and she kicked me" Hermione showed her bruised chin.

"Oh dear" her mother exclaimed "that's it. I'm calling the school" she left the dinner table, which almost always was inexcusable in their household

"You did the right thing Hero" her father said. She smiled when her dad used her nickname. It made her feels stronger.

They continued to eat in silence.

"Something really strange happened today too" she said suddenly.

"What was that?" He asked.

"During recess, when Jane dragged me to the end of the playground to threaten me, I told her that she had it coming and that something awful was going to happen to her if she didn't stop…and then it did"

"Then what did?"

"Something bad happened. I wished really hard that something would happen to her, and then the bus came and splashed muddy water, and it came all the way through the fence and soaked her. That's when she kicked me and said I made it happen"

"Hmm" he said.

"But dad" she continued "I didn't get wet. I stood not even half a meter from her, and she was completely drenched but it didn't even splatter on me"

"Sounds like you were lucky" he had finished his dinner and walked over to Hermione and kissed her head "I have to go and review some patients' files, so hurry up and finish so you can do your homework"

She continued looking at him.

"Don't worry. You did not make it so she got completely soaked in muddy water."

Hermione smiled, but kept the rest of her doubt inside her; there had only been a tiny puddle on the road, not even half a meter wide and maybe five centimeters deep, yet when that bus came, the amount of water that drenched Jane must have been at least five times that much if not more.

Quickly, before her mother returned, she threw the steamed veggies out and put her plate in the dishwasher after which she hurried to her room.

**Comments are golden :) **


	2. Professor McGonagall Pays a Visit

_**I apologize for the wait, but I had to say goodbye to a dear friend of mine yesterday. She was an International student in my class for the past half year and she went back to America this morning...anyway, back to the story. So I hope you enjoy the story (thank you for the one comment I have so far ;)) and here is the second installment; Professor McGonagall pays a visit. Enjoy and review!**_

~*~PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL PAYS A VISIT~*~

Hermione heard her mother get off the phone with the principal and then talk to her father in the study.

"Maybe we should let her skip a grade. She already has the knowledge and she'll move schools" her mother said.

"Honey, we decided that it was best if she interacted with children her own age. Besides, the school year just started, it might get better . We'll consider it for next year, and maybe we can try and arrange for her to go to a different school than her classmates then"

There was a knock on the door and Hermione decided to start her schoolwork. She decided on mathematics. She could hear her mother talking to someone unfamiliar downstairs, but she didn't recognize the voice. It was a woman speaking, she was sure, but she had never heard her before. Suddenly her father came in to the conversation as well before they moved in to the living room and Hermione now heard even less than before.

She finished off the ten problems she had been assigned and got started on English. She was reading Lord of the Flies. She had already read it for pleasure but now it was schoolwork. She didn't mind. It would be impossible for anyone to miss that her room had been decorated for and by a book-lover. Books were the only place she could escape. She read anything and many books she owned she had re-read multiple times.

Suddenly there was a knock on the open door and her mother, looking as pale as she did when she was sick, was standing there, accompanied by an older, stern-looking woman.

"Hermione, I have someone who is here to see you"

She set down her book. Why in the world was this lady here to see her?

Her mother left them. Hermione peered at the woman who looked around her room.

"Do you mind if I sit?" she asked her and pointed to the bed. Hermione, who wasn't sure what this woman wanted, managed a stiff nod. It didn't occur to her to offer the woman her chair.

"My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall" she presented herself "and I am deputy headmaster at a school called Hogwarts. It's a boarding school"

Hermione thought that name sounded old. She made a mental note to look up this place, because she had never heard of it before.

"It's a special school were only selected students can go. We educate children there who are just like you"

"So everyone there is smart like me?" Hermione said hopefully. Maybe this was her ticket out of her current situation.

"Not quite dear. Dare I say not many of our students, past and present, would be able to compete with you in that department. I don't think I have ever had the fortune to meet such an intelligent child" Minerva McGonagall said. Hermione's heart sank a little, but she also got the impression that the lady was trying to tell her something important, and this peaked her curiosity.

"How could you possibly know that?" Hermione asked. She thought it odd that the woman would know how intelligent she actually was, especially if her school did not specialize in intelligence.

"Hogwarts" McGonagall started again, ignoring the question "Is a school for students with special _abilities_" she emphasized the last word "Tell me, child, have you ever done something, made something happen, that you couldn't really explain? That you said something, and then it came true?"

Hermione thought back to earlier that day, how Jane Appleby had become muddy and wet and not so much as a sprinkle on her. She thought back further, a couple of months ago, right before the summer holidays, she had hid from Marlene who had said she was going to punch her for borrowing a colored pencil that Marlene wasn't even using and during recess, she had climbed the only tree there was in the schoolyard that one could climb but when Marlene came out after her, accompanied by Jane, she couldn't even reach the first branch. Hermione had thought it slightly odd, but had been too scared to bother with it. Another time, in the beginning of the year, after Jane had dropped another snide remark over Hermione's hair being the way it was, she had thought about how it would be nice if Jane's perfect hair became like hers for a day. The next time she saw her, Jane's hair looked like she had a bad perm and even worse than her own and Jane had tried covering it up by making it in to a bun, but without success. The day after, it was back to normal.

"Maybe" she said and looked down in to the ground.

"Well, that's good" the woman seemed to be relieved by that news.

"Good?"

"It means that you are a witch"

Hermione sighed.

"I've been called worse" She said.

"My dear child, it's not an insult" Minerva said and stood up "It's just what you are. What I am. It means you can do magic and Hogwarts is a school that teaches witches and wizards how to use it. "

"I don't believe you. Magic is only true in fiction"

Without a word Minerva McGonagall took out a wand and swiftly turned Hermione's single red rose (the only thing she had gotten today to remind her that this was her birthday) in to eleven pink roses, which were her favorite. They smelled divine. Despite that this stunned her, she was still skeptical.

"Just because you can do it, doesn't mean I can."

"With proper training, you can" the Professor said.

"I think you have the wrong person"

"I should hope not" the woman said and handed Hermione an envelope which appeared to be made of old parchment with green letters on the front and a seal with an emblem of a crest with the letter H and tiny details that she could barely make out. "When a witch or wizard is born, he or she goes in to a book where the magical community keeps all of the magical children accounted for, and when they turn 11, if they show magical potential, they each get one of these letters. We keep an eye on you"

Hermione took the letter and looked at the front. The inscription read "To Miss Hermione Jean Granger" followed by her address, and she carefully opened it.

"Dear Ms. Granger" the letter started "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress"

The second page entailed a detailed list of everything she needed to bring. She wondered how she would get all of this, but no sooner had she finished the thought than McGonagall spoke.

"Should you wish to attend Hogwarts, I leave Hermes here with you" she gestured outside where and owl had taken up residence in a tree "and as the letter says, send us a reply before July 31st. When we have received your acceptance letter, you will receive information of how to get your appliances. Hermes will stay here with you until the school year starts, should you need to communicate further."

Hermione was still staring at the letter.

"Do you have any questions for me?" Minerva McGonagall was sitting down again now.

About a hundred swam across her mind, but one was of extreme importance, she thought.

"Are my mum and dad a witch and wizard too?" she asked carefully, not sure what to expect.

"No, my dear. I'm afraid not" she sighed "You are, what we call, a muggle-born"

"What is a muggle?"

"It's a person who does not possess magical qualities and muggle-born just means that your parent's are not magical"

"Does it make a difference?" she asked.

"Not at all. Some of our brightest witches and wizards have been muggle-born"

"Will there be others like me there, at the school? Muggle-born, I mean"

"Yes" McGonagall answered shortly.

Hermione remained quiet for a while.

"I must be going" she stood up and Hermione did the same.

"Thank you, madam" She wasn't sure how to address her "for coming"

"Walk me down, dear" the professor said.

They walked down, Hermione following the professor.

Her parents were standing by the foot of the stairs. They looked pale, she thought, though her mother looked a little bit better than she had before.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, it was a pleasure meeting you" she shook their hands and looked at Hermione. "I hope to see you at Hogwarts this fall"

And with that, the witch put on her pointy hat and walked outside.

Hermione darted up the stairs the second the door shut and ran to the window above the door overlooking the street, but Professor Minerva McGonagall was already gone.

~*~_**Please leave a comment**_~*~


	3. The Desicion

_**Hi people! Tragedy has struck! My external hard-drive crashed, so I have had to find a place that can recover the data on it, which I had to go and do today, so catastrophe (and mental breakdown on my part) has been avoided. So now that the rant is out of the way, I just wanted to tell you that this chapter is a little short, but enjoy and review the third chapter :)** _

~*~THE DECISION~*~

Because of the lateness of the evening and the trip that was going to take place that Friday evening to her grandmother's house, the discussion and decision had to be postponed until after the weekend was over.

Hermione was sent to finish her packing, and she placed the letter to Hogwarts on the top of her bag.

The weekend passed fast, and even though she loved the other presents, her mind was still on the first one; the letter. She had mixed emotions about it, for sure, but she knew what she wanted. She wanted to go.

Come Sunday evening, and they came back home. Her parents sat down in front of the TV to watch the evening news and Hermione went up to her room and opened her bag. The letter was still there. Despite being read over 25 times, the letter still looked new. She picked it up and brought it down to her parents.

"Mum, dad" she said and stood before them as they sat in the sofa "Can we please talk about this" she held up the letter.

Her parents both moved sideways in the sofa to make room for her, and she crawled up like she used to do when she was younger.

"So what do you think?" she asked them.

"What do you want to do, darling?" her father asked.

"What do you want me to do?" she replied.

Her parents were quiet.

"Are you not okay with me…being a witch?" she asked carefully.

"No" her father shook her head "We don't care one bit about that. We both want you to do what you want"

"Honey, I want you to stay" her mother said bluntly, as if she was dreading this "but that shouldn't stop you. If you want to go, you'll go, okay?" she stood up, kissed Hermione on the head and left her with her father, and Hermione could hear sniffles coming from the kitchen.

"Don't worry about your mother" her father said "She's just being a mum, and mum will always want you close to home. But she also wants you to do what you want to do"

They were both quiet and Hermione stared at the letter.

"So what do you want to do, Hero?"

She thought about leaving her school. She had no problem with that. She'd just tell people at school she was going to boarding school if they asked, which they probably wouldn't. She thought about leaving her parents. There the problem was. It was so far away. She wouldn't live at home but rather… well, she wasn't sure exactly how far, but far enough. Could she do it? She wasn't sure. She swallowed.

"I want to go" she looked at her father.

"Then you shall go" he replied simply and smiled at her.

Hermione gave him a big hug before walking up to her room. Instantly, she felt bad. Not once, as far as she could remember, during her 11 years on this planet had she made her mother cry before. She placed her letter on her desk and walked downstairs again. She found her mother in the study she and Hermione's father shared.

"Mum?" she asked and her mother turned around and wiped some tears from her eyes. Mrs. Granger was looking at pictures of her.

"Hermione, sweetheart" her mother said "come here"

Hermione walked over to her.

"Mum, do you really not want me to go?"

"Oh, darling, of course I want you to, if it makes you happy. It's just hard, Hermione. When you're a mother, you'll understand what I'm talking about" she said and stroke her daughter's cheek.

"So I can go?"

"Yes, of course. Perhaps this is what's best for you and maybe you'll find some really great friends"

Hermione nodded. She had been thinking the exact same thing.

"Go on now" her mother said and dabbed her eyes "You have an acceptance-letter to write"

**~*~Comments are appreciated!~*~**


	4. Diagon Alley

_**Hola people! I bring you the next part of the story; Hermione's first visit to Diagon Alley. This was probably the most fun part to write in the whole story, but that's just me ;). It's pretty long, and the following chapters probably won't be this long. Just giving you a fair warning ^^ Enjoy and review!**_

~*~DIAGON ALLEY~*~

It was over half a year since Hermes delivered the news. In a letter, with the same crest as her acceptance letter, and in the same green address and the same aged parchment, there were instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley and what to do once there.

Hermione had read her letter every day since she got it, along with her acceptance letter, to make sure she memorized everything. She would bring the letters on the day anyway, but she had to remind herself that it was real, and it helped her bear Jane and Marlene's rudeness.

Her parents had promised her a long-weekend in London during Easter when they would try and access the Alley. This was Hermione's parents' idea because they were nothing if not prepared for the worst. In case they couldn't get in, they needed time to contact someone who could help. If they did get in, Hermione had begged her parents to allow her to purchase her school-books now so she could read them in advance. The rest of her things they were going to purchase at the end of the summer. She was secretly counting the days.

On the last day of their vacation, Hermione was walking ahead of her parents, trying to hurry them along. She really, really wanted to get in.

She closed in on the street address she had been given, the street was less busy than she would imagine a London street, which she supposed, might be why this place called the Leaky Cauldron was located here. Once her parents caught up, she had stopped. This was the right address but she couldn't see the place anywhere. For a second, she thought the address might be wrong and she got a bit enraged by this. Was it all a lie? But then her father, as if he had read her mind, bent down and whispered something in her ear.

"Maybe it's something only witches can see? Come on, Hero. Relax"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was a trick her mother had taught her; when something frustrates you, take a deep breath and count to five as you exhale. So she did.

She opened her eyes, and she felt something drawing her gaze towards a corner, and there she saw it. The Leaky Cauldron.

Dragging her parents over to the dusty windows, Hermione kept her eyes on the door, as if it was going to disappear if she looked away. Her parents seemed befuddled at first but coming closer, both of them, too, saw the place. The dusty, dark windows, the smell of beer mixed with stew, the creaking sign above the door. Her mother looked around and wondered for a moment why the people passing them by didn't notice this place. Nobody paid any attention to them. Maybe that was just Londoners, she thought.

They entered, and there was a damp and woody, yet dry smell to the place, as if someone had just returned to their log cabin after the spring had melted the winter's waters through the house and was now trying to dry the place up with an open fire.

They looked around. Hermione understood immediately why they had decided to use this as an entrance to the wizard's version of London. Even though the place was cozy (the letter had said it was an inn), nobody in their right mind would believe (without previous knowledge) that this held the door to a new part of London.

Mrs. Granger placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. There weren't many people in the pub; two wizards were sitting at the other end of the bar, and a single witch was sitting by the dark window in a booth by herself, talking to her owl which was sitting on the table in front of her.

Mr. Granger walked up to the barkeep.

"Excuse me sir" he said and the man looked at him strangely "Do you think you could help us?"

"Are you a muggle?" the man asked. Not in a particularly nasty tone, but intimidating enough to get her father to tremble as he responded. Perhaps he feared what this man could do to him.

"Y...y…yes sir"

"My name is Tom. Come with me"

"Tom" her father repeated. Hermione had never seen her father act this way.

They followed him out to the back, where a couple of garbage bins were located and a brick wall surrounded the area and then connected to the back wall of the pub/inn.

"First year at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Tom" Hermione replied and Tom chuckled.

"Well, you're early. Most don't come until the mid/end of August. Why everyone wants to do everything last minute, I never understood. Better be prepared, I say"

Hermione held on to her mother's hand but walked up to Tom, who had just stopped.

"Mr. Tom, are you a wizard?" she asked. She thought she knew the answer to that question but she was still curious of the answer.

"Just as much as you're a witch" he smiled.

"Can you show me some magic?" she asked. She felt like she was five, asking that question, but she still hadn't gotten over Professor McGonagall's magic trick in her room.

Tom took out his wand and tapped on the bricks. Hermione observed. Three up, two across from the weird looking brick. Tap three times. Suddenly, the brick back wall opened up to reveal a busy street. People, dressed in the same cloak and hat the professor had been wearing when she visited, walked up and down the street. Hermione let go of her mother's hand and walked in to the street.

"Hermione, don't go too far" her mother called after her, but she needn't have worried. Hermione was already caught by the first window.

"First stop you want to make is Gringotts" Tom told her parents "The goblins convert your muggle money to galleons, sickles and knuts for you. Then you'll want to see Ollivander about getting the little miss a wand, she'll need one. Madame Malkin's does the best robes, Flourish and Blotts for books, and the apothecary for her ingredients. The rest of the things on her list are easily found"

"Thank you" Mrs. Granger said.

"Good Luck" Tom said and the wall closed up again.

Hermione fell in love with Diagon Alley. She wanted to go to every shop, stand in front of every window, and buy everything her little heart wanted. Her parents had to drag her from the pet-shop window to the bank.

The hall was great and Hermione was intimidated, yet intrigued, by the goblins that worked there. She would have loved to ask them a gazillion questions about how the wizard bank worked, about the money and all sorts, but one stern look from one of the goblins made her grab a hold of both her parents.

Once the money was exchanged and the system explained to them (17 sickles to the galleon, 29 knuts to the sickle, and Hermione quickly calculated 493 knuts to the galleon) they set off.

"The man said to see Ollivander about a wand" her father said when she asked to go to the book store.

They walked towards an old shop with a hanging sign depicting a wand. The name above the shop clearly read "Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C". She thought this slightly strange, but did not question it. The Wizarding world was still a mystery to her and perhaps this was common.

"Welcome" a voice greeted them once inside "Welcome to Ollivander's. How may I be of assistance?"

A man came in to view. He was old.

"Well, we'd like to purchase a wand" Mr. Granger said.

"But of course" Mr. Ollivander said "For the young lady here, I presume?" Hermione looked at him.

"Yes sir" she said and peered around the shop. Every single wall was stacked to the roof with tiny boxes that must contain wands, and there were piles on the floor. Hermione thought it a miracle nobody tripped over them.

"Well, my dear. Let's see if we can find a wand that fits you. Tell me, are you magical?" he addressed her parents.

"No, sir, we're… muggles" her father said.

"I see, I see…. Sometimes it runs in the family, you see, so if we had a starting point…" he didn't finish his sentence. "Not to worry, I'm sure the right wand is here somewhere"

Ollivander started walking around, looking at boxes. Occasionally he opened one and decided it was no good. After about three minutes of this searching, he opened a box and exclaimed "Ah!" whereupon he brought it back to Hermione.

She took it. It felt strange in her hand, as if it had a will of its own, and before she got a chance to say anything, the wand flew out of her hand and hit Ollivander on the cheek and knocked his glasses on edge.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized.

"Don't worry dear, that happens all the time" the old wandmaker said as he adjusted his glasses again "Tell me, child, what are some of your favorite things?"

"I…I like to read" she said.

"Reading…." He mumbled and walked over to a stack towards the rear of the shop. "Beech, 9 inches, unicorn hair"

Hermione had no idea what he was mumbling at first, but when she saw the wand, she understood perfectly. It was a beautiful wand. Completely smooth, but with a handle grip which had been carefully carved.

She took the wand, and got the same feeling as before, times three. No sooner had she picked it up than it let off a magic dart that made a pile of boxes fly across the room and empty their content everywhere, causing dust on top of the shelves and stacks to go flying everywhere and everyone in the shop to sneeze.

"No, no, not that one" he hurried to Hermione and took the wand from her and placed it in the box again. "What month is your birthday in, my dear?" he asked when he had put the box back.

"September" she replied quickly.

"Let's try this one" He walked over to a shelf near where they were standing. "12 inches, vine wood, fairy wing core"

Hermione tried yet again to take it, but this time, she felt nothing. It was like holding a fork. A very long fork.

"Try it" Ollivander urged.

She wasn't sure what to do but tried and whip it a bit. Nothing happened.

"Well, we seem to be getting closer" he said with a smile "Now tell me; do you have any special traits?"

She shook her head quickly.

"Come on Hero, you must have some traits" her father said and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hero, eh?" Ollivander said and looked at her.

"It's just a nickname" she said.

"Sometimes, a nickname tells us more about ourselves than we think" he said and disappeared behind the shelf. He appeared 15 seconds later with a box.

"10 ¾ inches, vine wood, dragon heartstring core" he said

The crafting on the wand was beautiful, like vines climbing to the top. Hermione took the wand and she felt a wave of warmth running through her whole body, starting with her hand, moving up her arm and in to the other arm, down her torso and up to the tip of head at the same time, as if it was originating from the wand. Without knowing it, she smiled.

"Yes…perfect" the wandmaker concluded. "Give it a try"

She pointed it at the vase of half-dead flowers on the desk, and she watched in excitement as they multiplied and turned in to full bloom.

"Marvelous. A natural already" he smiled, but it faded "This is a very powerful wand" Ollivander continued seriously "It is not made for subtlety. The magic might be in the person, but the wand chooses the witch, not the other way around. With this wand, you will accomplish great things so be careful"

Hermione nodded. She didn't feel like he was threatening her, but preparing her for something that would inevitably come.

After the visit to the wandmaker, she had almost forgotten about her books, but the minute she stepped inside, she was in heaven. There were far more books here than the library at school, and a greater variety than she had ever seen in her life. The shop was virtually deserted except for two witches who stood discussing the latest of a Wizard named Gildenroy Lockhart.

Hermione brought out her list and went looking around the place for them. She noticed, soon, that the shop was organized like a library and once she had made this discovery, it took her ten minutes to find all her books, but before she could find her parents her eyes fell on another book.

"Mum, may I please also get this one?" She asked as pretty as could when she found them looking through a book on magical creatures.

She held up a book that read "Hogwarts – A History".

"Please?" She begged "It will be very educational for me"

Mr. and Mrs. Granger rarely denied their daughter a book, but educational books they always approved, and since Hermione knew this, it was her best bet.

"Yes, of course darling" Mrs. Granger said as Mr. Granger relieved his daughter of the books she was carrying and made their way to the counter.

For the rest of the day, Hermione wore a smile. They exited the same way they had entered (the wall opened automatically from the other side) and said their goodbyes to Tom, before walking back to their muggle-hotel and getting in the car to go home.

As Hermione was walking up the stairs to unpack all of her new things her mother followed her.

"Hermione, whatever you do, don't bring any of these things to school, okay?" she said. Hermione had already figured that part out, but she was too happy to say so, and instead nodded.

** ~*~Comments are golden!~*~**


	5. Platform 9 and Three Quarters

_**New chapter! More than halfway through already. Hermione is about to board the train that will take her on the most amazing journey of her life. I've taken some creative liberties, and this is one of the parts where the books are mixed with the movies a little bit. Anyway, don't judge me too hard on that. Enjoy and review!**_

~*~PLATFORM 9 ¾~*~

It was the first of September and Hermione was anxious. They were waiting for a Ministry of Magic official to come and help them through the barrier. Hermione stood there with her new trunk containing the books she had read and re-read over the summer, the new robes they had acquired only about 6 weeks before along with the rest of her things. Hermione remembered the second visit.

She had her wand tucked in her bag, and she easily found her way to the Leaky Cauldron this time.

"_Well, hello again little witch" Tom smiled at her when she entered._

"_Hello" _

"_Getting the rest of your things, eh?" he asked. _

_She nodded._

"_You remember how to get in?" _

"_Of course" she smiled._

_Her parents followed her out to the stone wall behind the pub. Three up, two across, tap three times. She felt grown up doing it all by herself. _

_The rest of her things had been easy to find. She had gotten a few extra books for pleasure, and Madam Malkin had been most helpful when she got her robes, telling her all about the Hogwarts houses. Hermione had a basic understanding of it from her book about Hogwarts, and that the sorting was based on your personality, but the shop-keeper wouldn't tell her how the sorting process worked _

"_It will probably be best if it's a surprise" she smiled and finished her robes._

Once she had gotten it all, they headed back home where Hermione spent the better part of the summer reading her new schoolbooks and packing, and then repacking, everything to make sure she didn't forget anything.

Now here she was. It was 10.30 and any minute now the official was going to come and help them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger?" a plump man came up behind them. He looked friendly enough.

"Yes" her mother spoke.

"I'm Mr. Barnaby. This way please" they were ushered to a pillar between platform 9 and 10.

They stood in front of it; the column looking exactly the same as all the others.

"Now, each place a hand on your daughter and the other on the trolley" her parents did as they were told "you're going to go through that column there"

Hermione knew they were skeptical, so was she, but they did not show the man that.

"You are probably nervous" Mr. Barnaby said "Try doing it in a slight run. Good luck" and with that he was gone.

"He must be having a busy day" her father said. "Everybody ready?"

They nodded.

"3…2…1…" they all started running slightly, not attracting anyone's attention.

Just as they were about to hit the wall, they didn't. It felt like walking through water mattresses, without the weight. Or at least that's how it would have felt, had they not had anyone on their side. The magical barrier felt like a body of water forming after their shape, like they were water resistant particles.

Once inside, the steam engine had just been started up. Hermione looked around. A few people were here already.

"Neville Longbottom!" A woman yelled "Don't tell me you've lost that frog again"

Hermione looked down and saw a toad by her feet. She knew the woman had said frog, but she doubted there were many other amphibians on the platform. She bent down and picked the toad up, and walked over to the boy before her parents could stop her. They followed her.

"Excuse me" she said as she came closer "Is this your toad?"

The boy looked up.

"Trevor!" he said

"Thank you dear" the woman he was with said.

"You're welcome"

"I'm Neville Longbottom" he said and reached out a hand.

"I'm Hermione Granger" she shook it "Is this your first year?"

He nodded.

"Mine too" she said.

"This is my grandmother" he introduced.

"These are my parents" she said and turned to her parents who were now standing behind her again. For some reason, Neville appeared to be slightly down by the mentioning of parents, but she didn't ask him. "They're muggles"

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger" Neville's grandmother said "How delightful" and as they started chatting away.

"I don't mind muggles" Neville said "but you might not want to go and brag about it at Hogwarts. There are people there who don't see muggle-borns the same way I do"

Hermione nodded. She understood.

"Want to sit with me on the train?" Neville changed the topic with a smile.

"Yes" she smiled. So making friends here wasn't that hard.

They found an empty compartment, but not long before the train was due to depart, Neville leaned out on one side of the window to announce to his grandmother that Trevor had disappeared once more.

"Oh, Neville, have you lost him again?" she scolded. But gave him a hug before he came in again.

Hermione reached out on the other side to hug both of her parents good bye.

On the train she met Dean Tomas who was half-blood wizard, but essentially muggle born like her. They had a lot in common and Neville sometimes came with comments of his own. They shared their compartment with a girl named Hannah Abbot and an older student names Peter Jones.

"You might want to change in to your robes soon" he said as he himself left to change in to his robes "Hogwarts isn't too far away now"

Hermione went next, and then it was Neville's turn. When he came back, he looked terrified again.

"I can't find Trevor" his voice quivered. "I've looked everywhere"

"Don't worry" Hermione said "I'll help you look for him. He has to be here somewhere"

She decided that if Neville walked up towards the front of the train, she'd move towards the end. Walking between compartments she came up empty handed. Suddenly she came across a two boys in a compartment with a lot of candy between them. The redheaded boy was going to show the black-haired boy a magic trick.

"Excuse me" she said "Have you seen a toad anywhere? A boy named Neville lost his"

Neither one of them knew, but Hermione decided she wanted to see this boy do magic. It still fascinated her, even though she had had almost a year to get used to it. However, the boy wasn't very good. He was trying to turn his rat yellow, but nothing happened. She told them she had already memorized the textbooks and that she didn't think he was actually using a proper spell. She didn't recognize the format of which this particular spell had been written in, as it was not one of the four versifications mentioned in the "Standard Book of Spells" so she doubted it was a real spell.

"You might want to change in your robes. I think we're at Hogwarts soon. Oh, and you have a bit of dirt on your nose" she told the red-haired boy before she left to join Neville and the others before arriving at the school.

_**~*~Please leave a comment :)~*~**_


	6. Hogwarts

_**Hey people! Thank you so much for the comment everyone :) I'm glad you're liking this so far ^^. I have taken a few creative liberties in this one, I think, and I apologize for that, but I hope the chapter's readable anyway :) Anyway, Enjoy, Read and Review :)** _

~*~HOGWARTS~*~

A giant named Hagrid lead them to boats and a lake. She noticed that only first-years were taking this route and all others were disappearing. Hermione and Neville shared a boat with the two boys from the train; Ron and Harry. They all gasped as the view of the lit castle came in to view. They were never going to see a more beautiful picture, Hermione was sure.

They were let off by a big door that opened automatically. The hallway behind the door lead to a grand staircase which they walked up. At the top, the witch who had visited her last year, Professor McGonagall, stood. Neville finally found Trevor, and the professor informed them that she would be right back and they were to wait there.

That boy from the train, Ron, was mentioning having to battle something, and she quickly started mumbling hexes and charms she might need to use. She remembered what the woman in the shop had said about personality playing a part, but she wasn't sure how, and this made her nervous for the first time in her life. Then a brat apparently named Malfoy walked up to Harry and introduced himself. This was the famous Harry Potter her books had mentioned and Malfoy seemed to be a person who would want to align himself with such power. Hermione didn't care much for that though, but she hoped she wouldn't have to deal too much with Malfoy in the future.

McGonagall came back and told everyone to follow her. They did and Hermione's jaw dropped. The ceiling of the great hall couldn't completely compare to the castle itself, but it was none the less magical. The ceiling was enchanted and showed a navy sky decorated with stars amongst the floating candles that also lit up the hall.

There was a hat in front of them, on a stool, and Hermione had no idea what she was expected to do. Preform magic that would turn the hat a different color? Levitate it? She wasn't completely sure, but she was sure she wasn't prepared enough.

She peered at the professors. The older man in the middle must be the headmaster, and she could see the giant Hagrid. There was also a dwarf, a man with a turban and a man with hair that looked like it could use a good wash. The last one gave her the creeps. There were also a few women, and they all seemed fairly nice.

"When I call your name, you come and sit on the chair and the hat will be placed on your head and sort you in to your houses" Hermione wasn't sure if this is what professor McGonagall had said since she was still trying to get her head around all this, and when recalling it later, this was the best she came up with. She heard the boy Ron mumble something about "troll" and "hat" and "kill them" but she couldn't make it all out.

As if things weren't strange enough, the hat now began to sing. She was taken aback. Hats don't normally sing.

When the song was finished, names were called and people were sorted in to houses. Hermione's turn came up, and she walked up, quickly, breathing in and out to calm herself down. The hat was placed on her head.

"Hmm…" it whispered in her ear and Hermione freaked out a little on the inside "Smart indeed. Ravenclaw would be a good place for such a keen mind…but I sense other things as well; bravery. You are very reliable, and loyal too. Hmm…I guess it will have to be GRYFFINDOR"

The hall exploded with applause.

She joined the red and golden table.

"I'm Percy Weasley" a redheaded boy who was a lot older than her said "I'm a fifth-year. My brother's waiting to be sorted"

"Is he the boy with the rat?" she asked and he nodded.

She looked over at the rest of them; a few other redheads, a set of twins who looked like they were related to Percy and Ron sat opposite her.

"Hi! We're Fred and George" they said "Welcome to Gryffindor. We're going to have a lot of fun together" she laughed.

"Stop it now" Percy said.

"Oh, right Percy. You're a _prefect_ now" they emphasized the word "We won't get away with _anything_"

Malfoy's name came up and before the hat even had been placed on his head, it yelled out SLYTHERIN!

"Harry Potter" professor McGonagall said soon after and everyone fell silent and watched.

It took a while. Longer than it had taken Hermione. Eventually the hat settled on GRYFFINDOR!

Another wave of cheers erupted and Harry took his place next to the twins and the sorting continued. Eventually, Ron's name came up and the Weasleys, along with Hermione and Harry and most of Gryffindor table remained quiet. Almost as quick as with Malfoy, the hat shouted GRYFFINDOR!

Yet another wave came and then there were only a few names left before the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, spoke.

"Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak" Hermione vowed to herself to never forget those words.

There were a few other things the headmaster spoke of. A lot of it was mainly common sense; stay out of the forbidden forest (duh. Hermione figured it went without saying, but when she caught the twins smiling at one another and their friend (whom she had overheard being called Lee), she realized it might not be so obvious) blah blah blah, and a lot of other things that pretty much said itself. The last thing was quite intriguing though – stay out of the corridor on the third floor. It was pretty odd and specific, she thought, but made a mental note to stay away from that area.

The coming two months were pretty okay. She had a bit of trouble making friends. The girls were so…close…and Hermione instantly felt left out. She wasn't interested in what they were interested in, she preferred to escape in to books, which was something they didn't understand. Neville (who had also been placed in Gryffindor) was a good companion and friend, but not someone she felt she would ever be a really, really close friend to. He wasn't too keen on reading. He worried instead.

Eventually it was Halloween and their lesson was charms. Professor Flitwick was trying to teach them Vingardium Leviosa – how to get things to fly.

"It's levi-o-sa, not levios-a" she corrected Ron who she was partnering up with. Ron and Harry were a few of the only people in her house and year who actually spoke to her but trying to establish some form of friendship was hard. They had so little in common.

Ron was out of the classroom before anyone else and Harry was following him. Hermione tried to catch up with them to talk, but then she heard what Ron said;

"She's a nightmare; honestly, it's no wonder she hasn't got any friends"

As soon as she heard this, rather than catching up, Hermione shoved past them with tears in her eyes, heading for the bathrooms.

**~*~Comment! =)~*~**

**p.s. I know I left out the three-headed dog, but I thought that was covered very well in the book and movie, and I felt Hermione's feelings would be fairly similar.  
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	7. Bonding Over a Giant Troll

_**Hola people! Sorry I haven't updated. Haven't been home in a while, but I have two chapters left, and then it's over :/. Anyway, Since most of what happens here is in the books, it's pretty short, but I hope you enjoy it.**_

**~*~BONDING OVER A GIANT TROLL~*~**

The comment hurt much more than she wanted to admit. It had been hard enough here, getting used to magic, being in a new house with girls she did not particularly like (and that reminded her of Jane Appelby and Marlene Fritz far more than she would have liked, both in looks and in manners) and boys who were…well, boys.

It was horrible enough trying to make friends without the remarks. She had had enough of that all her life.

She was sitting in the bathroom, trying to cry quietly, but unsuccessfully.

"Are you okay?" someone, Parvati Patil she thought, asked.

"I'm fine" she said.

"Are you coming to dinner?"

"I think I'll skip it, if it's all the same to you"

She heard the door close and the storm gathering outside. It only made her more depressed. She was terribly homesick now. Homesick to the extent that she was nauseous. She wanted to go home. Maybe that was what she needed. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be here, she realized. But she had had to come here to realize it. She was writing home tomorrow and asking to come home. The dinner would have started, she realized, and she was wondering what she was missing. She wanted to go, but the thought of seeing Ron now, sent her in to her second major crying session of the night.

She wasn't sure how long she was in there, but eventually, she felt confident enough that walking out to the other students and seeing them would make her cry.

She exited the stall, and wiped her eye, looked up, and was face to face with a 12 feet tall troll.

Hermione screamed. Louder than she had ever screamed in her life, and she ran back in to the stall.

She heard someone come in. It turned out to be Harry and Ron.

They kept shouting at her to stay down, but she wasn't sure how they were going to overpower this troll. It was like nothing they had ever encountered before. They hadn't even studied trolls in class yet!

High on adrenalin, she hid over and over again as the troll's club wrecked the stalls and sinks, and eventually, Harry got on to its back and jammed his wand up his nose.

Ron looked panic-stricken.

"Swish and flick!" Hermione yelled.

"Uh, right!" Ron replied and said, loud and clear "Wingardium Levi-o-sa!"

It was hard to tell who was more surprised when Ron managed the spell; Him, Harry or Hermione. The troll, however, did not realize what was going on at first, and when he did, Ron knocked him out with his own club.

"Ick, Troll-boogers" Harry said and wiped his wand on the troll's cloth just as Professor McGonagall, the headmaster, professor Snape and professor Quirrel came running.

Harry and Ron started talking over one another.

Hermione realized that if she took the blame, she might be expelled. It was probably a better way to go home. It didn't officially mean she failed. It just meant she had tried and got expelled. Failing was something she had trouble accepting. Also, it was the least she could do for Harry and Ron, to make sure they weren't punished.

"It was me" she said "I…I had read about trolls and I thought I could handle it. Obviously I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't come to save me, I would have died" '

She awaited her punishment.

"Well" Professor McGonagall said "It was a very foolish thing to do indeed. I'm afraid I will have to take 5 house points for that, Miss Granger"

She turned to Harry and Ron and it took a while for Hermione to realize she wasn't expelled from the school. It didn't seem like the professor believed her story about going after the troll though; maybe that was why she had been allowed to stay.

Professor McGonagall ended up rewarding the boys 5 points each for coming to her aid and sending them off to bed.

They walked in silence up to the common room.

"Thanks" they all said simultaneously and Hermione thought she saw them actually smiling at her before she closed the door to her dormitory.

She went to bed that night, happier than before. Maybe she was finally making some friends.

_**~*~Comments are appreciated! ~*~**_


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